Old Stone Tavern
a.k.a. The Nowell House;The Bell House;The Old Stone House
Main St., Little Creek, DEThe first documentary reference to the stone house in Little Creek is dated 1829, when it was sold, with a two-acre lot, by Sheriff Nehemiah Clarke in the execution of a judgment against John Bell and Manlove Hayes.
This two-acre lot was divided from the main Simpson's Choice tract in 1764, when the lands of Mary Hunter were divided among her children, John, Henry, and Lucy Bell. At the time of the division, there were no improvements on this particular lot.
The land remained in the Bell family until Henry's son John lost it at a sheriff's sale in 1829. It changed hands several times during the next quarter-century, finally becoming the property of Abraham Nowell in 1858.
Stone buildings, particularly buildings constructed of cut Piedmont stone, are rare in Kent County, which is devoid of native rock. The Nowell House is therefore an architectural curiosity, even though it otherwise differs only in quality from its nearby contemporaries.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.